In yet another kick to the groin, the Edmonton Oilers shafted themselves -- or is it bladed themselves? -- in Tuesday's 5-3 loss to the Anaheim Ducks when coach Craig MacTavish guessed wrong on Teemu Selanne's stick.

MacTavish thought he had it right when he asked the referees to measure the blade of Selanne's stick with 2:11 to play, thinking it was too wide, but he got it wrong because he got bad information.

It was just another blunder to add to the misery of Oiler fans who've now packed Rexall Place for 151 straight games and in return have been treated to expensive beer, too many half-assed efforts, a grand total of 16 wins in 37 home games and untold heartache this season.

I'm wondering if whoever it was that was eye-balling Anaheim's stick rack is the same guy who looked over the Oilers roster in pre-season and whispered in MacTavish's ear he'd bet his job this team would contend for a Northwest Division title. Or did MacT act alone?

Either way, somebody's going to pay after April 11.

PARTING GIFT FOR MACT?

Selanne shrugged off suggestions in the post-game scrum the blade of his stick was too wide or that he'd made a quick change of twigs. The Finnish Flash instead took a bit of a poke at MacTavish.

"No, not really," shrugged Selanne, asked if he'd swapped sticks or if it was common to replace illegal sticks with legal ones late in games. "I try to have it as wide as I can because the ice is so bad in a lot of buildings. "It's right on the borderline, but I knew it was going to be good, so I didn't really have to worry about it. There's not much curve at all, but it looks pretty wide."

Wide enough, obviously, that MacTavish, likely convinced by his stick rack spy, gambled in the hope of going on the power play after Zack Stortini cut Anaheim's lead to 4-3 at 17:49. "I don't know who it was," smiled Selanne, asked if he thought that it was MacTavish who'd been casting suspicious glances toward his stick. "Maybe I should sign the stick for him, though."

ON EMPTY

No way Dwayne Roloson deserves to be thrown under the bus with the record-setting 33-game stretch he's played, but he's looked tired the last two games and it only makes sense he's finally out of gas.

As much as he's battled, Roloson gave up three goals on 21 shots, including a softy by Martin Skoula, in the 3-2 loss to Minnesota and there's no way he should get beat high on the short side by Rob Niedermayer to put the Ducks up 4-1 late in the second period.

So, what do the Oilers do now? Lock Roloson's 39-year-old bones in a hyperbaric chamber until Thursday or toss Jeff Deslauriers between the pipes when he hasn't played a minute since Feb. 7 and hasn't made a start since Nov. 30? That's not an option.

As dubious as the Selanne stick measurement was, the decision not to give Deslauriers a start or two in the last 33 games, especially with three sets of back-to-back games since Feb. 16, might prove to be more costly.

For me, that's a more damning indictment of MacTavish's judgment than the bad call on Selanne's lumber.

BY THE NUMBERS

-- Not to leave former GM and president of hockey operations Kevin Lowe and his scouting staff out of all the fun, Ryan Getzlaf, selected 19th overall by the Ducks in the 2003 Entry Draft, had two assists Tuesday and has 88-174-262 in 292 games.

Marc Pouliot, taken 22nd by the Oilers in 2003, was a healthy scratch for the eighth time in the last nine games. He's scored 14-25-39 in 140 games.

-- Stortini has scored five goals in the last 18 games he's played. Shawn Horcoff has two goals in his last 18 and Ales Hemsky has three in his last 18. Who's been the ham-handed plumber when it’s mattered?

-- How many games have the Oilers lost in the second period? They have been outscored 90-74 in the middle frame this season, including 3-0 last night.

-- At 16-15-6 the Oilers need to run the table in their final four games at Rexall Place just to hit 20 wins at home this season. There isn't a team in a playoff position today with a home record nearly as lame.

-- Listen to Robin Brownlee every Thursday from 4 to 6 p.m. on Just A Game with Jason Gregor on TEAM 1260.

A sports writer since 1983, including stints at The Edmonton Journal and The Sun 1989-2007, I happily co-host the Jason Gregor Show on TSN 1260 twice a week and write when so inclined. Have the best damn lawn on the internet. Most important, I am Sam's dad. Follow me on Twitter at Robin_Brownlee. Or don't.

I'm a Flames fan, but I come in peace. Over this season, I have come to have a soft spot for the Oilers, just because I can not believe the way this team is managed. You guys are all passionate fans, I read this site more than any other hockey blog because I enjoy the commentary all of the guys who write for Oilers Nation provide as well as what the commenters have to say- its either pretty insightful and/or funny. Let's just say that we are all just a bunch of useless f*cks in the grand scheme of things who cheer for different teams, and to see famous professional athletes just pound the pooch like this is ridiculous.

I am just stunned by what this once-proud team has become... Kevin Lowe is a brutal GM as shown by his signings (I just learned Horcoff is making Iginla money- WTF?), and this whole MacTavish bullsh*t is out of control. Playing Roloson for 33 straight games? Why did Lowe even trade Garon? Yeesh. Playing Erik Cole out of position all year, only to trade him for spare parts and see him flourish back in Raliegh? Christ, even though the Flames and Mike Keenan drive me crazy every night with their annual chokeshow, I can't even imagine what you all must be going through.

I feel bad for all of you, and even if you all despise the Flames, a lot of Calgarians have become a lot more understanding of the Oil fan's plight this year after the debacle that your management, coaching and players have put you all through. As much as I hate to say this, I hope that Katz makes a solid decision, cleans house and gets some new faces in your organization so next year's edition of the Edmonton Oilers is a passionate team ready to take the bull by its horns. Because even if the Oil upend the Flames, my hatred towards Vancouver (and its f*cking *sswipe fans who think that they are the second coming of the 1985 Chicago Bears) will never die, and if it has to be the Oilers to take Luongo, Kesler, Hank n' Dank and the always hateable Burrows to the ground, so be it. Anyways, I hope the rather late Battle of Alberta next weekend is not only entertaining, but will have some significance for the standings- who knows, maybe you'll run the table and sneak into the big dance. But I guess the bottom line is that this club needs a major overhaul, playoffs or not, and I wish your team luck down the road. You got a solid young core, if you can land a franchise goalie, this team will be f*cking scary down the road. Have a good one, guys

I believe the most damning evidence against MacTavish is post game comments. While he may not be the problem to a year long lack of "jam", he clearly didn't and doesn't have the solution. And while I don't pretend to know or understand exactly what system this team plays or if it really is his job to motivate this team. Oilersnation clearly documents the numerous players thrown under the bus by this coach. And while we the fans have lost confidence in this group, I think the group lost confidence in themselves along time ago. From "The Girl Next Door", is the juice worth the squeeze? For these players under this coach to play with jam, no it wasn't.

The biggest condemnation of coach MacT is the inability to change the two biggest weaknesses of this team, the pp and the pk. Instead of changing the systems he continually threw out different players to make his systems work. He cannot get the most out of skilled players and it seems like the team has had enough. Cio, Coach.

listening to Bryne om TEAM 1260 he said today that no star is going to come to Edmonton because of what happened between KLOWE and Comrie. Bryne said KLOWE asked for money back and that went all around the league. I have to believe Bryne.
add that to the bad contracts KLOWE has signed and does it not add up to a very poor performance by KLOWE and to start the clean up he should leave even before MacT goes?

listening to Bryne om TEAM 1260 he said today that no star is going to come to Edmonton because of what happened between KLOWE and Comrie. Bryne said KLOWE asked for money back and that went all around the league. I have to believe Bryne.
add that to the bad contracts KLOWE has signed and does it not add up to a very poor performance by KLOWE and to start the clean up he should leave even before MacT goes?

You don't have to believe Bryn, it's true. I broke that story while I was at The Sun. Lowe asked for $2.5 million back as part of a trade that would have sent Comrie to Anaheim.

"ashamed to be an oilers fan"? Screw you. If you can't cheer for the team when times are bad, then f**k you and go find another team to cheer for. Watch Flames TV and Post on flamesnation until they lose in the first round again.

I hope some of the season ticket holders that keep bitching and not cheering at games give their tickets up so people who really want to go can get tickets more often.

Also we should talk more about how the failed draft picks, players making more money then they are worth, the coach losing the room this year and all that other bulls**t. When does the Brownlee article that starts with "I told you so" and ends with "well there is always next year" come? Can't wait for that

I'm there no matter what...i guess that is what's most frustrating, I bleed Oiler Blue.
Mac T has to go, but if he doesn't, I'm still there. KLowe's contracts need to be cleansed, but if not....I'm still there.
Ales needs to play like an allstar, and if not....

Robin Brownlee wrote:
You don’t have to believe Bryn, it’s true. I broke that story while I was at The Sun. Lowe asked for $2.5 million back as part of a trade that would have sent Comrie to Anaheim.
But is it true that no star will come here for that reason? All that Hossa, Jagr etc. chaos tells me it’s not.

For those of you TopGun fans out there, lame I know but why not so was this whole season

MacT: Excuse me ref is there something wrong?
Ref: Yes ma'am , the data on the illegal stick is inaccurate
MacT: How's that Ref
Ref:: Well, I just happened to measure the stick
Linesman: We!
Ref: Uh, sorry linesman, WE Happened to measure the stick and it was not a 4g negative dive illegal curve
MacT: How did you measure this?
Ref: That's classified
MacT: It's what?
Ref: It's classified I could tell you, but I'm going to have to make you kill a penalty

Jonathan Willis had an excellent post here a while back that defense and special teams was the Oilers undoing this year, and despite that, all the Coach and the Captain can talk about is lack of scoring.

Let's look at the Oilers's ranking on a few stats at BTN as of this morning.

Goals For per 60min 5v5 Tied for 7th in the league (!?!)

Goals Against per 60 min 5v5 Tied for 26th in the league

Goals For per 60 min 5v4 (PP) Tied for 26th in the league

Goals Against per 60 min 4v5 (PK) Tied for 27th in the league.

One of these things is not like the others, one of these things is only kinda the same........

Despite these stats good ol' Captain Moreau said for the umpteenth time last night that the Oiler's problem is lack of scoring.

Can't bring yourself to accountability eh Cappy? (good ol Cappy has the worst penalty kill rating on the Oilers with a 8.59GA/60 on the PK and is a league leader in the minor penalties taken department)

Special teams is mostly coaching and systems. (that being said Detroit's PK is as bad as Edmonton's, their killer PP saves them)

We seem to have the talent for the PP, just not the execution. Is this coaching?

The dismal PK numbers is probably a combo of coaching and personel. MacT has always rolled 3 sets of forwards on each PK with short shifts. This year he rolled two sets, with the first set of 10,18 getting two shifts. Losing 34 for most of the seaon, as well as Stoll and Reasoner certainly didn't help, but the Coach's use of the PK early in the season as a way of getting players like 89 and 27 "into the game" is inexcusable. The failure to turn the speedy 13 into a PK player is terrible as well....he doesn't have to take the freaking faceoff, just get him out there.

So as people like Bryn on 1260 want to trade Hemsky's cheap contract because he's not performing. (how is 63pts in 67 games at 4.1 cap hit not performing??), the real problem on this team is defense.

I think Lowe deserves most of the blame for this. He hasn't provided MacTavish with MacTavish type players.

MacTavish has the patience of a saint with all the young and not-so-talented players he has had in the last 3 years, but now that the talent is getting semi-good its easy to see MacTavish isn't the right Coach for this group either.

Ya, the Comrie story about asking for the signing bonus to be repaid has been discussed before. If you are a hockey player and you are about earning your maximum amount of dollars in a recession economy, then Edmonton should be a good answer - ask Penner, ask Vanek, ask Horcoff, ask Souray.

All have huge contracts as a result of K-Lowe. In addition, do you think Hossa will command the dollars this summer he could have gotten last summer from Katz and the boys ?

At the end of the day, hockey players like most athletes are looking to maximize their salary. Kinda like you and I.

Last night was a microcosm of our entire season. We were great at times, but overall not good enough to get it done. We fell asleep in the second, and then just to make it interesting we come up with a huge push late in the game, only to inevitably fall short.

I don't think we need to run Mac T out of town. I do think he'll be fired or resign, but this team's troubles run deeper than the coach. When Zack Stortini has outscored both Hemsky and Horc over the home stretch, as Robin pointed out, you have a problem.

Klowe has done well bringing in Tambo to protect himself from taking the blame, but I feel he, more than anyone, needs to go. Too many negatives around that guy for my liking: Pronger-gate, Comrie-gate, Burke-gate....I wonder how underdtanding fans will react next year when Horcs is making as much as Datsyuk? And hey, KLowe, what do you think about Bobby Ryan now? Moron.

listening to Bryne om TEAM 1260 he said today that no star is going to come to Edmonton because of what happened between KLOWE and Comrie.

Al, you trot out this stuff with amazing regularity... and it's so terribly, terribly asinine. Yes, of course the Lowe and Comrie thing happened, and it didn't improve the reputation of this team.

On the other hand, Chris Pronger signed a 5-year extension without setting foot in Edmonton well after the Comrie incident, so saying that no star will ever come to Edmonton is both stupid and demonstrably false.

albundy wrote:
listening to Bryne om TEAM 1260 he said today that no star is going to come to Edmonton because of what happened between KLOWE and Comrie.
Al, you trot out this stuff with amazing regularity… and it’s so terribly, terribly asinine. Yes, of course the Lowe and Comrie thing happened, and it didn’t improve the reputation of this team.
On the other hand, Chris Pronger signed a 5-year extension without setting foot in Edmonton well after the Comrie incident, so saying that no star will ever come to Edmonton is both stupid and demonstrably false.

Pronger also demanded a trade after one season, affectively damning the franchise to a pathetic state for the last 3 years. Keep in mind that this contract signing came right after the lockout when no one, including Chris Pronger, was entirely sure what kind of money would be flying around. In a nutshell, he took a whack of guaranteed money and then forced his way out of town as if he were a free agent. Using Pronger as evidence in your argument is taking that contract well out of context.

*Backs up the ol' band wagon into its reserved spot at the office. Hops down from the drivers seat and has a long hard look at the bedraggled beast before him. A scratch here, a dent there, a cracked windshield and a rusty tailpipe... the thing has seen better times. Picking slowly at the sticker that wrongly predicted the oilers as the 2006 Stanley Cup champs he walks to the back of the wagon, continuing his inspection. With a sigh he goes to his tool box, picks out a monkey wrench and starts to install a handrail and staircase to the back of the bandwagon. After testing out the stairs a few times..going on the bandwagon...off the bandwagon...on the bandwagon...off the bandwagon...he decides that the stairs are fit for most oilers fans and makes his way back to the drivers seat. With tedoil riding shotgun and JRocks247 riding bitch, he fires up the brute, honks the air horn, blows a kiss to his Britney picture and heads back on the trail.*

@ hockeysmack:
Nonsense. The argument was that after Comrie, no star would come to Edmonton. Chris Pronger did.
Besides which, I could just have easily mentioned Sheldon Souray, or Thomas Vanek - who did sign a contract with the Oilers, although it was matched.
The argument that Comrie spelled the end of star acquisitions is nonsensical.

True, the Comrie thing is ancient history, the problem now is the team is:

a) Utterly pathetic, so who'd want to come here? (Souray is very good, but not an elite player)

b) Unable to sign anyone decent because their 'Braintrust' has invested buckets full of money on garbage (irrespective of what your abacus says, Penner and Horcoff are going to kill this team)

listening to Bryne om TEAM 1260 he said today that no star is going to come to Edmonton because of what happened between KLOWE and Comrie. Bryne said KLOWE asked for money back and that went all around the league. I have to believe Bryne.
add that to the bad contracts KLOWE has signed and does it not add up to a very poor performance by KLOWE and to start the clean up he should leave even before MacT goes?

Why are we always looking for a conspiracy theory? That may be a (small) piece of the reason but their are many, many more reasons why the "top notch" FA isn't coming here.

@ hockeysmack:
Nonsense. The argument was that after Comrie, no star would come to Edmonton. Chris Pronger did.
Besides which, I could just have easily mentioned Sheldon Souray, or Thomas Vanek - who did sign a contract with the Oilers, although it was matched.
The argument that Comrie spelled the end of star acquisitions is nonsensical.

PLUS, Comrie himself is not a star so the argument falls apart immediately. He is a decent, 2-line player, nothing more.

It's a shame that the illegal stick call was getting so much play last night and today around Oilers fandom. The game wasn't lost on that call, the game was lost in the 40 minute no show that preceded it.

If MacT deserves any critisism for last night it was for continually trotting out Horcoff and Hemsky for 20 minutes on the night when they flat out sucked from the drop of the opening face off.

Jonathan Willis wrote:
@ hockeysmack:
Nonsense. The argument was that after Comrie, no star would come to Edmonton. Chris Pronger did.
Besides which, I could just have easily mentioned Sheldon Souray, or Thomas Vanek - who did sign a contract with the Oilers, although it was matched.
The argument that Comrie spelled the end of star acquisitions is nonsensical.
True, the Comrie thing is ancient history, the problem now is the team is:
a) Utterly pathetic, so who’d want to come here? (Souray is very good, but not an elite player)
b) Unable to sign anyone decent because their ‘Braintrust’ has invested buckets full of money on garbage (irrespective of what your abacus says, Penner and Horcoff are going to kill this team)

$$ is a small part of the problem. No one wanted to come here when the team had $$ to burn either.

As a season seat holder the last 10 years it becomes frustrating watching the same Oilers teams batteling year after year,even the year we went to game seven we finished 8th,correct me if I am wrong the last 9 years under K lowe and Mac T this team has never finished better than sixth place,We where told that after the lock out we would be competetive and no fear of losing our stars,yet no stars want to come to play in Edmonton,Sure Pronger came had a look around and after one year asked to be traded,Is it the management of this team,the coaching,the organization that no one wants to come here?Our drafting record the last 10 years is a joke,I would have had more luck throwing darts on the wall than our scouting department, with some of the wasted picks they have made.Our General manager over payed Penner and Horcoff,we are now stuck with them for the long term,once he found out what a mess he made with this team he gets promoted,our coach is quick to blame his players for poor performance,yet his pp and pk is a joke he takes no responsiability for his teams poor performance, his coaching record is below 500 in the time he has been here yet we keep him around,There are other gerneral managers who will tell you they saw this coming Brian Burke to name one,This organization is in trouble,As a Oilers fan watching these guys play is diss hearting going to games is no longer fun,it is frustrating,I would hope that who ever is in charge will do something and not feed all of us Oilers fans a buch of propoganda. It is time we go in a new direction without K lowe and Mac T look at what the expansion franchises have done in the last 10 years look at what columbus has done with our Ex assaistant Gm and Hitchcock as coach what have we accomplished?

We have Stortini who fights, MacIntyre who fights, Strudwick who fights, Peckham who fights, Jacques who fights, Souray who dominates, Moreau who fights, Staois who fights... But who scores? Oh...Stortini... right.

Hey, I'm not an offensive defencemen or a forward
I don't score goals, rush the puck or have any hockey records.
and I don't like Burke, Ryan or Carlyle, but i'm sure they are mourons.
I have the boys club not a coaching staff.
I speak english and french, not American
and I call it Oilers Hockey not Trap
I have a tatoo on my back
I believe in defence not offence, Horcoff and not Getzlaf
The Oil drop is a truly proud and noble symbol of hockey
Fans opinions don't matter thier just coach potato's
It is pronounced Horcoff not Horcov.
Edmonton is the second largest hockey bed, the first "oilersnation" of hockey and the best part of the NHL
MY NAME IS KEVIN AND I AM THE G.M.

@ Robin Brownlee:
Comrie for Cory Perry and all felled through when Lowe demanded the bonus money back at 2.5 mil. Rich Winters almost choked on his steak at the Sawridge when he heard what Lowe did. Winters was more than livid at Lowe to say the least. Murray of Anaheim was thankful the deal went bust. Could have had Cory Perry...wouldn't that have been a sweet deal.

Btw, the signing of Horcoff to a mega contract looks so bad. Horc is playing crap for a top line and well paid center. Why isn't he in MacT's doghouse? Oh right, MacT has his favorites.

@ oilersseasonticketholdersince99:
in the last 10 yrs, the Oilers are in the top5 for draft picks making it to the NHL. From the span of 1999-2008 they have had 32 draft picks dress for the team. Only teams with more are Chicago (38), Los Angeles (38), Boston (36), Washington (33). Pittsburgh and Columbus are also tied with 32.

@ Robin Brownlee:
Comrie for Cory Perry and all felled through when Lowe demanded the bonus money back at 2.5 mil. Rich Winters almost choked on his steak at the Sawridge when he heard what Lowe did. Winters was more than livid at Lowe to say the least. Murray of Anaheim was thankful the deal went bust. Could have had Cory Perry…wouldn’t that have been a sweet deal.
Btw, the signing of Horcoff to a mega contract looks so bad. Horc is playing crap for a top line and well paid center. Why isn’t he in MacT’s doghouse? Oh right, MacT has his favorites.
Na na na naa… hey-hey-hey goodbye…

And lets also remember that the 1st that was coming back from ANA was alot lower than the one we got from Philly which ended up being Schremp.

@ oilersseasonticketholdersince99:
in the last 10 yrs, the Oilers are in the top5 for draft picks making it to the NHL. From the span of 1999-2008 they have had 32 draft picks dress for the team. Only teams with more are Chicago (38), Los Angeles (38), Boston (36), Washington (33). Pittsburgh and Columbus are also tied with 32.

How many players have gone on to play more than 10 NHL games? Name me more than two players not named Sam Gagner who have developed into a decent NHL player,they also won 5 cups 25 years ago or so my question to you is are you satisfied with this organization performance as whole the last ten years? Are you a season ticket holder?